20080114 Guangdong seeks help in cutting energy use

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn South China's Guangdong Province, one of the country's biggest energy consumers, is seeking help from foreign governments and organizations to curb its appetite for resources Guangdong lacks sources of energy and other natural resources and so must invest more in energy-saving technology if it is to continue its rapid economic growth, Xie said. governments of the US, UK and Switzerland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as well as the Asian Development Bank and some private companies were interested in cooperating with Guangdong to develop energy-saving projects. Guangdong signed an agreement with the Swiss engineering firm ABB to help local companies become more efficient. ABB will also help analyze and audit local companies' energy-use. Guangdong purchased more than 50.7 million tons of coal from around the world in the first five months, up 9.9 percent Guangdong used 154 billion kWh in the first six months this year, up 13.4 percent from the same period last year,